The FBI has been unable to access a Washington Post reporter’s seized iPhone because it was in Lockdown Mode, a sometimes overlooked feature that makes iPhones broadly more secure, according to recently filed court records.

The court record shows what devices and data the FBI was able to ultimately access, and which devices it could not, after raiding the home of the reporter, Hannah Natanson, in January as part of an investigation into leaks of classified information. It also provides rare insight into the apparent effectiveness of Lockdown Mode, or at least how effective it might be before the FBI may try other techniques to access the device.

“Because the iPhone was in Lockdown mode, CART could not extract that device,” the court record reads, referring to the FBI’s Computer Analysis Response Team, a unit focused on performing forensic analyses of seized devices. The document is written by the government, and is opposing the return of Natanson’s devices.

Archive: http://archive.today/gfTg9

  • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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    28 days ago

    Best advertisement I’ve heard for an iPhone ever. Now that Android moving to the same walled garden business model…

        • Attacker94@lemmy.world
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          28 days ago

          Discounting some minor comparability issues, the process just requires a computer, an internet connection, a cable, and the ability to read through a couple paragraphs of instruction.

          • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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            28 days ago

            I’m talking about daily use. I have a good friend, we’ve both been computer nerds since The Apple II era, we both used to put custom roms on our android phones, we’re avid self hosters, etc… He recently switched to Graphene and wants to switch back to something that’s less of a pain. His complaints are pretty much the same as reasons I haven’t switched. I warned him it would be an adjustment.

            • napoleonsdumbcousin@feddit.org
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              28 days ago

              As someone who uses GrapheneOS with sandboxed GooglePlay on his only smartphone (with daily usage for years at this point): I don’t know what kind of adjustment you are referring to. I never had to adjust to anything, because I never encountered anything that GrapheneOS couldn’t do that stock Android could. Follow the installation process and after that the phone behaves like a regular phone, except you have way more options regarding security and privacy.

              Is your friend trying to use GrapheneOS without any Google services maybe?

            • itsworkthatwedo@sh.itjust.works
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              28 days ago

              So you haven’t used it yourself and are shitting on an OS based on anecdotal evidence? "Stop making stupid assumptions”, I once heard someone say.

              I use GrapheneOS and have helped other less tech-savvy people install and use it. You can just roll with the defaults and have a better privacy stance than the spyware Google puts out, or you can take a deep dive. It works just fine either way.

          • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
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            28 days ago

            All of my banking apps work in Graphene, but yes, some banks apps don’t work, which is why there’s published lists so you can check before flashing.

          • biofaust@lemmy.world
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            28 days ago

            I have GrapheneOS and use banking apps and tap-to-pay on a daily basis.

            I am not in the US, though.